Local Bastides - fortified towns

Beaumont-du-Périgord was founded in 1275 by a lieutenant of Edward I and honoured Edward's father, Henry III, by laying out Beaumont's wide straight streets in the form of an "H".

Eymet is a pretty bastide built by the French to oppose the numerous bastides which had built in the region by the English. It has a lovely large square with a large fountain in the centre.

Molières is a tiny unfinished English bastide with a large Gothic church. It also is claimed to have a ghost: in the 1360's, Queen Blanca of Castile died here, poisoned by her husband Pedro the Cruel, and she allegedly has the habit of wandering the streets.

Monpazier is considered "the most perfect bastide". The best story of all is one recorded by the Duke of Sully worthy of a Monty Python sketch: by sheer coincidence Monpazier decided to raid Villefranche-du-Périgord, the next bastide to the east, on the same night that Villefranche decided to do the same to Monpazier. By chance each militia took different paths; each was delighted to find their goal undefended and easy to plunder, and carried its booty back - to ransacked homes. An agreement was struck, and both sides gave back everything they stole.